When the jury foreman sat down, there was a roar of approval from courtroom spectators that could be heard out in the hallway. After a ten-month legal ordeal, all six defendants were getting ready to walk out of the federal courthouse as free men, after their electronic ankle bracelets were removed.

The last defendant to leave was former Officer Thomas Liciardello, who has spent the past ten months in solitary confinement while the other defendants were out on bail.

After the verdict, Liciardello and the other defendants literally stopped traffic out on Market Street while supporters, including FOP President John McNesby, pulled over in trucks and SUVs, to honk their horns in solidarity.

"I just want to thank the jury; they believed in us," a pale Liciardello told a media throng as he stood beside his wife, also a police officer. "I just want to get on with my life."

For the alleged rogue cops, the ordeal began on July 30, 2014, when the FBI raided the officers' homes at 5 a.m., with guns drawn.

The six members of the narcotics field unit were charged in a 26-count federal indictment with allegedly using their positions to run a criminal enterprise. The rogue cops, the feds said, robbed and beat the drug dealers they arrested out of at least $500,000 worth of cash and drugs. The money and drugs were allegedly stolen over a six-year period, between 2006 and 2012. The feds also accused the cops of falsifying police reports to cover their tracks.

It was a case with plenty of rhetorical flourishes endlessly replayed in the media. The rogue cops, the feds said, supposedly dangled a couple of drug dealers by their feet off of high balconies. They allegedly used sledgehammers to blow open doors. They allegedly beat one drug dealer, Wayne Layre, with a steel bar in the back of the head and kicked in his his teeth. They allegedly kidnapped another drug dealer and held him hostage, and they allegedly extorted other drug dealers. They allegedly stole Rolex watches, iPods, a Calvin Klein suit, even $6,000 of somebody's flood relief money.

At a press conference the day of the arrests, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey declared, "I have been a police officer for more than 40 years and this is one of the worst cases of corruption that I have ever heard."

"Words just don't describe the degree to which their acts have brought discredit," said Ramsey, who vowed to destroy the officers' badges.

"Unfortunately, a very small percentage of police officers continue to toss their oath aside and act like the very criminals they have sworn to bring to justice," said U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger.

Not to be outdone, Mayor Michael Nutter described the defendants as "sick scumbags." The message to the rest of the police force, Nutter said, was, "Don't stray from the law. If you do, we will find you. You will be prosecuted and more than likely you will go to jail."

Then, after all that chest-pounding, the government finally had to show its hand. So they released nearly 100,000 pages of documents.

When the defense lawyers got through plowing through all that paperwork, to put it plainly, the government's case was an embarrassment.

The case was so shoddy that the feds indicted Officer Michael Spicer for three alleged crimes on days that he was either not at work, or in Florida on vacation.

At least three drug dealers in the government's original all-star lineup of 19 drug dealer witnesses had to be dropped from the case because they were found to have perjured themselves or were deemed unreliable. One of those drug dealers was Wayne Layre, the guy who claimed the cops beat him with a steel bar and kicked in his teeth. The feds had to drop Layre as a witness after he got busted again as part of a big heroin and meth ring.

In the original 22 "episodes" of alleged police misconduct contained in the indictment, there were 15 Philly cops who were eyewitnesses -- fellow officers and supervisors --- that the feds didn't bother to interview until three to seven months AFTER the indictment.

The feds had no audio or video evidence to support their claims of misconduct against the cops. They didn't produce one scrap of paper to prove the drug dealers had the cash that the feds claimed was stolen by the cops.

The feds, the defense said, took the drug dealers at their word. Whether it was jewelry allegedly purchased from Tiffany's, or money withdrawn from a bank, or $14,000 from a worker's comp settlement a decade ago, or some $6,000 in flood relief, the feds never produced one bank record or sales receipt to back up any of the drug dealers' claims.

All the feds had for them were the stories told by the drug dealers, stories that, in the words of a prosecutor, were "shockingly similar" the stories told by Officer Jeffrey Walker to the FBI.

In the end, this jury apparently wanted more than stories, they wanted facts that could be corroborated.

And the government didn't have any.

The evidence in the case that couldn't be refuted included audio and video from two undercover FBI sting operations.

In the first sting operation, Officer Walker, the government's star witness, got caught red handed walking out of a drug dealer's house with $15,000 in cash and five pounds of marijuana.

In the second sting operation, an FBI agent posing as a drug dealer drove around with more than $8,600 in cash. The feds were hoping the defendants would bust the guy and help themselves. Instead, the cops turned over every dollar and reported all of it on property receipts.

With so many holes in the case, it was no wonder that the jury couldn't find the defendants guilty of one charge.

"Thank God for the jury system," said Jimmy Binns, the lawyer who defended former Officer Spicer, as he walked out of the courtroom.

"I'm gonna take my son home," said Tommy Liciardello's mother, as she hugged other defendants.

Michael Diamonstein, the lawyer who defended Officer John Speiser, said the case should serve as a "stark reminder" to the city's top cop and other public officials who pre-judged the case without knowing anything other than the government's allegations.

Diamonstein and other defense lawyers pointedly said that Police Commissioner Ramsey owed the defendants an apology.

"He didn't even know the facts," Jack McMahon, the lawyer who defended Officer Brian Reynolds, said about the police commissioner.

"They didn't investigate," McMahon, a former prosecutor, said about the feds. "They didn't do their job."

"Embarrassing" and "shocking" was how McMahon described the government's investigation, or lack thereof.

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Wzorek, told reporters, "We knew from the beginning of this case this was going to be a very difficult case to bring, a case that had to be brought, and we don't regret that decision."

His boss, U.S. Attorney Memeger, said in a prepared statement that he was "disappointed" but respectful of the jury's decision.

"We stand by our case and we will not be deterred from prosecuting cases like this," Memeger said.

So the U.S. Attorney's official position is they're still right. They didn't offer any explanation for the glaring holes in their case.

Out on Market Street, Michael Spicer was walking around with a big smile. Spicer the former milkman turned cop was the only one of six defendants to take the stand. And he killed it.

It wasn't so easy, Spicer said, to watch his family suffer through his long legal ordeal.

Tracey Duckett, the fiancee of Officer Linwood Norman, said the couple was planning to get married last October. Before Norman got arrested at 5 a.m. on July 30 by FBI officers brandishing automatic weapons.

"They put a gun to my lady's head and to my kids' heads," Norman recalled.

There were so many lies told from the witness stand during the case, Duckett said. Jeffrey Walker, for example, told the jury that he and Norman were good buddies who used to hang out at the Post Office Bar.

She and Norman have been together for six years, she said. Jeffrey Walker has never been to their house; Jeffrey Walker doesn't even know her name.

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comments:

Congratulations to these officers, now they have to try to put their lives back together. Let this ordeal send a message to other officers over being too eager in their work, as the Commissioner or top brass did not have their backs, and jumped on the feds wagon without caring to look at the facts of the case. I would be wary of working too closely with the feds after this fiasco!

So Happy for you guys and your families. We knew it all along, now the media should tell this story for 2 weeks like they did when your families and you were going through the worst time of your lives.i think the Feds need to reevaluate there employees. Good luck guys!

Congratulations to these Six OFFICERS and their families. God bless you all as you move on from this trying time in your life and start to put it behind you!! You deserved this justice and so you got it! It was a long road but it could not have ended any better! Officer Spicer, Officer Liciardello, Officer Speiser, Officer Reynolds, Officer Betts, and Officer Norman, thank you for all that you have done for our city keeping the scum off of our streets. I hope to see you men back out there in the near future ( but wouldn't blame any of you if you told Ramsey he could stick your badges in his big fat ass ) Have a great night gentlemen ! YOU DESERVE IT' amen!!

Amen to that. I can't imagine Michael procopio not being a credible witness. The Feds dropped the ball. They could have waited until they had real evidence. Hard to build a case based on testimony of drug dealing low life's. Jury was never Gona buy their stories. Bobby jones is a cocksucker.

Well,well,well, the haters are quite quiet this evening. I hope the annoited one (Ramsey) didnt melt those badges just yet. Looks like you have 6 clothing allowance checks to prepare. To the monday morning quarterbacks, the cops who hated during the trial, the mayor and commish who called these guys scumbags, the low life white trash cess pool drug dealing/ using junkie dealers, just two words........ FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK YOOOOOOUUUUU!!!!! To the supporters, you know who you are no words are needed. To the low life toads who disparaged( sorry for the big word) the wives and kids of these six, praying you get stomach cancer.

Jimmy G love you man could.nt say it any Better my self fuck them flunkie cops and dealers and there wifes in the asssss the venom i have for these cock suckers is off the charts. I hope the witnesses and those flunkie cops suffer the rest of there lives for there betrayl of these officers and the agents who saw fit to help bring this bullshit to trial.

I prayed all week. YAHOO!!!!! This is the same prosecutor that persecuted the Traffic Court judges. Now do you believe they lied about Traffic Court, the FBI agent lied, they lied to get the indictment and lied in the court room. Too bad it had to happen to the police, but now you know what happened to the judges. No one believes it until it happens to you. Hopefully millions of Philadelphians now are getting it. The feds lie.

The whole way the feds do business has sunk. The Mob trial with Uncle Joe and this charade with these officers is mind boggling. You just can.t throw idiots up there and expect a conviction any more do your Jobs or get another one

Its perfectly acceptable for innocent people to go to jail, as long as the feds get their conviction. The jury go it right, amazingly, the feds always get brownie points, just for being the feds. All the heartache and anguish that this has caused the families, the city and the department , the feds should have known better. This is not acceptable behavior on the part of the government, no matter how they try to spin it they have sinned against humanity . The tide is turning. Don't believe what you read in the papers about anyone being guilty.

And Commissioner Charles Ramsey we are waiting for your Resignation your behavior and remarks disgrace the Uniform and this City. You are a Outsider and Mayor Nutter it is time for you to put up or shut up.His fat sorry disgracefull ass needs to go. And you need to hire from within period. This isNot gonna go away you guys fucked up and need to pay the piper know. This is.nt a Black thing this is a Justice system wrong fully out control in this City turning against the Men in Blue Who protect this City and they need leadership from Bosses who believe in them. Not someone looking for a paycheck blowing the Mayor. They need a leader and that starts with you. Do your fucking Job and leave Politics out if it.

Did you see where Congress wants answers from the FBI on hair analysis that was inaccurate and sent thousands to prison and 14 to their deaths. The Washington Post broke the story April 19,2015. I suppose it was poor timing for the Inky to run the blockbuster story during the police trial, may have made the feds look bad. Well at least we will hear about it now. The FBI provided erroneous information and biased reports that resulted in matters of life and death. We all need to care about everyone jailed by bad science and bad prosecutors. We cant turn our backs any longer.

You're all nerds! So happy that these scumbags are not guilty! Get a life you losers! All weirdos! None of you know the truth so don't act like these crumbs are so innocent! You're all pathetic and need to get a life, you make me laugh! All NERDS

Again hide behind anonymous. My name is right there if you wanna have a real discussion. Hit me up I'll give you my address. No one cares or listens to your comments cause if you truly thought you are right you would post who you are. Get some balls if you wanna have. Real discussion

No1 is hiding " bobby jones". What are you "John doe" brother? I'm sure that's your real name u nerd. You're just another jerkoff who has a life on this blog because you're really irrelevant in your real life! Not to mention a total weirdo and clueless to what really goes on out in the streets. Cop-caller dork!! Make me sick u bedbug

Anonymous 12.12 and 1.48 what is your point the feds spent 7 yrs and got nothing. Ran these guys and there familys through the mud. And people like you and those who sent this case to trial did so for personal reasons listen to a suicidal drunk corrupt cop who did get caught then tried to blame his brothers because they did.nt trust his ass. Grow the fuck up you slap dicks you aren.t kids any more. These guys might have been cocky and didn.t want fuck ups around like you for a reason and that is they seen you and others like you for the cowards you really are. And theres no place for people like you and your coward friends when shit is about to hit the fan. These guys are hero.s and you Sorry pieces of shits from Top to bottom should be ashamed of yourselves for turning your backs on them.

so funny - who uses the word 'nerds' these days, lol. a jury of their peers found them innocent. the evidence speaks for itself. you must be one their 'victims' who sits home and knits sweaters as an innocent bystander. meanwhile, you're either slinging drugs or banging the person who is so you feel as though you should be untouchable. news flash, weirdo - when you break the law expect to be reprimanded. you're not as innocent as you believe. good day!

Guys & Gals, I think the person who said they reported O'Malley (if really him) to the DA'S office (what charges) is the same person who is calling people nerds, dorks and weirdos. Who even says that, what are we kids.... Please grow up and stop name calling...

this is such a great outcome! justice was served. The commissioner should really make a public apology. What happened to innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Ramsey? The Commissioner is not an attorney, he should have kept his mouth shut before going against his own and making legal statements and judgements. The evidence was not there. I wonder if Walker is shitting himself? I'm sure all of the "episodes" as referred in the indictment are upset they made an ass of themselves by testifying. I'm also sure every person these officers arrested are upset. When you are not a law abiding citizen and break the law expect there to be repercussions - you make the choice to put yourself and your family through the BS of dealing with police officers and arrests when you break the law, and when you associate with people who break the law. I know I can rest easy because I am law abiding citizen and so are the people I surround myself with. Way to go guys!

7 yrs?????? That's total bullshit buddy! Tommy liciardello is a perk monster and total crumb-bum who beats bookies and robs drug-dealers for his own drug addiction and gambling addiction! I know what I'm talking about, trust me, I'm from his neighborhood and know a lot more than you people that's for sure. His a piece of shit and he deserves what he's got coming to him! And he will def get what he deserves in the end! He's not untouchable, he's just a regular guy who had the law behind him and he took advantage of that and that's exactly why he's the biggest piece of shit out of all the cops! I know what I'm talking about cuzz!

Awwwwh look at you cuzz/ cuz, all angry and upset. Im gonna guess your initials are M. P.and you were born and raised in south philly. Listen sweetpea I feel your pain, these guys took it to your ass on the srreet and in the courtroom. And now that civil suit you were counting on went down the toilet when those dreaded words NOT GUILTY rang out 47 times. Relax sunshine its over now time to more forward head out ReUp and head to cookies and do what you do best. Tommorow is another day, but all this hate is unhealthy and you have alot to look forward to, likw coynting your wedding money with mommy, getting those cable wires repaired rehab another stint in the big house the possibilities ate undless so keep your head up and move on. God Bless.

If a white mayor or commissioner made the comments about 6 black officers on trial before due process you in the black community would want and apology and there Resignations. Well i feel both should apologize and The commissioner should resign immediately anda successor picked inside phila pd who has the concerns of the city its people and phila pd

This is a travesty of justice.I think it was almost impossible to get a conviction of these 6 guilty scumbags because they were smart enough to realize that drug dealers make bad witnesses. It must be hard for those guys to see all the money change hands in drug cases when they have a hard time making their mortgage but that in no way gives them the right to become criminals. Kudos to the US Attorneys who tried this basically un-winnable case. At least they shone a light n criminal cops. Hopefully those stupid bastards will make another mistake and we will put them behind bars where they belong. There is nothing worse than someone we should all trust and admire who betrays us all by being a criminal. Hopefully Commissioner Ramsey will have the guts to keep these guys in a place (a desk) where they can't hurt anyone else. These guilty scumbags should feel like OJ Simpson...because they certainly got away with murder.

Anonymous 9:40 am, you hit that right on the nose! Right on tommy's perk sniffing nose!!! What low-life's they are!! Hopefully they'll get what they got coming to them soon. Can they really get their jobs back, because I thought that they got fired??? Just give them their back pay and get rid of those junkie pigs once and for all!! Don't worry, tommy will eventually be back to his old ways of sniffin and devouring all his perks soon, and getting chased by bookies because he's a deadbeat junkie! Makes me sick....��������

Some ppl r making tommy l into a cult figure like merlino. Alot of the same qualities byw them, N not just beating life imprison at club fed. I thought tommy lic wife was sexy with her foul mouth. Yoga pants long hair n nice body. So let tommy n joey go on with their life n live the way they choose. Not r business.

Well i see you flunkie cops and drug dealers are still hating. If Tommy was a Junkie you think that might have come up in the trial its not something you can hide you dealers and cops should know that. In the 7 yr investigation they would.ve found something by mistake. And when he went to jail in lock up he would.ve went through withdrawl and they would have documented it and mentioned it during the trial. As for beating bookies look at it as paying Johnny and Stevie a street tax should.nt be taking cops bets anyway it's a no win situation. And as for Guzzling bookies Skinny Joey and Boy Borgesi made a living out if it. There.s guys still crying about it. But Uncle Joe during his tenure put the cabash to that and Straightened things out. But you flunkie cops got bigger problems as who will back you up on a call after turning on your brothers in Blue and everybody knows who you are. And for you drug dealers your shit is gonna get real raggedy now that Tommy and the Boys are back out on the streets. That unit is.nt gonna stop till your in jail or dead paybacks a bitch Boys and Girl and the hood is a tinder box ready to be lit up so sit back and let the good times roll my ---ga.s. And the only ones to blame is those 19 ---ga.s and white trash snitch.s still walking the streets is.nt that a bitch. The freight train is a coming through the neighbor hood my ---ga.s and i don.t see it getting derailed anytime soon. I hear the horn a blowing woooo wooo my ---ga !!!! Lol

Ahhhhh jb this is how it is! It's a known thing that tommy had a serious perk addiction, but I can't say it about his partners in crime! Tommys perk addiction was out of control and everyone who knows tommy and his family could tell you the same. Tommy and crew knew exactly when they were gonna get grabbed and indicted and tommy is NO Dummy! He straightened his addiction up because he had almost a year to do it and keep it under wraps. You make valid points about some of this but you really don't know too much when it comes to Tom and his bullshit! You know what u assume and hear on TV and blogs! Tom is a jealous bitch and his wife did sleep around with a few people while they were ENGAGED and when he found out who it was, he went full steam ahead. So when it comes to Tom, trust me I know! My friend was grabbed by Tom and he robbed a ton of his shit and handed in about 25% of it and he got him more than 2x. Can't say the same about the other 5 pigs but I can tell you what I know about Tom! He's smart and picks his spots and knows exactly what he has to do and exactly when he has to do it! That's the truth cuzz!

If Tommy had such a known "pill problem" why wouldn't the Feds zero in on that? They only opened and closed NUMEROUS investigations into him over the past decade and a half. If his pill problem was so well known wouldn't the easy thing to do would just have his superiors drug test him? ( the police dept AND narcotics random drug test ALL THE TIME ) The police dept. was in on some of the previous investigations of Tommy prior to this, that were opened and closed due to Lack of aka No evidence. Seems to me like that would be an easy way to jam him up if they were lacking evidence. I guess the Feds must have just wanted to go the hard way and keep opening and closing investigations until they finally took the impossible road by going to trial with NO evidence. He had such a pill problem he could just "clean it up on his own" ( someone stated above ) that's amazing. Get real fellas, you can hate all you want to because he's "cocky" or "tall with a badge" yada yada yada but you really should not say things about people that you don't know to be true other then other people making stuff up and running with it. These men have families and children, and I know you people could care less but even stupid things like comments on this blog I'm sure hurt to hear or read if you were their wives or child ( no I am not either one of the above just simply my opinion ) ALL SIX of these officers Got the justice that they deserved. Deal with it.

What kills me M.T these guys were found innocent yet the hatred continues. What.s even more mind boggling not one white person has asked for the Mayor or the Commissioner Charles Ramsey to apologize for their handling of the case against these 6 officers. You can best believe if were the other way around and the Mayor and Commissioner were white and the officers Black there would.ve been a little pow wow and Protest. But i guess its like water off a ducks ass and a ducks ass is water proof.

I agree with both of the 2 previous comments. Look the 6 cops were found innocent by a jury of their peers. It is over with. The city would be going crazy if the cops were black n the commish n mayor were whites the statements made by them. The white male is the most discriminate human being.

Well the "system" is not perfect and obviously in this case they failed. I'm sure a lot of the stories were true and false. But the court didn't get it all right! Tom was the ringleader and he did do a lot of what was said in court but do I think everything he did was true, no of course not, and I can't stand Tom ! But he's not innocent and he is a scum and a bigger criminal then most of the salty rats that took the stand against him. And perk monster like I said before. No hate here, just can't stand him and his "innocence". Piece of trash!

Trial is over, they were found not guilty now live with it. This is not the time or place to air people's dirty laundry, i'm sure no one on this site is an angel by no means. Let me get on with their lives and their families as well.

Well said 9:42. Trial is over n not guilty. Let katie n john the first couple of the trial go get married. John u carried urself with a typical cop swagger but i could see if your eyes how scared you were and anybody would be. You really should not been on trial. Now just hope the bird cage does not get raided at your wedding. Tommy Lic could be a ring bearer. Enough about the trial it is over.

COMMISSIONER CHARLES RAMSEY MUST GO!!! THAT.S WERE THE SMELL IS. LEADERSHIP CHARACTER TRUST DIGNITY HE LACKS IN ALL MENTIONED. YOU WANNA BRING BACK PRIDE TO PHILA PD START WITH HIS DISMISSAL AND HIRE WITHIN.

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